A man from Pennsylvania, Waylon Wilcox, has pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns after failing to report millions of dollars made from selling CryptoPunks, a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
He now faces up to six years in prison, along with possible fines and a period of supervised release.
On April 9, Wilcox admitted that he did not report over $13 million earned from 97 CryptoPunks sales made in 2021 and 2022. He reduced his tax bill by more than $3.2 million, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
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In 2021, Wilcox sold 62 of these NFTs for around $7.4 million. The next year, he sold 35 more for nearly $4.9 million. On both of his tax returns, he marked “no” when asked if he had sold any digital assets.
Prosecutors say Wilcox’s actions allowed him to avoid $2.18 million in taxes in 2021 and another $1.09 million in 2022. The IRS has stated that income from selling NFTs, like any other property, must be reported on tax returns. This includes the amount received and any profit or loss from the sale.
Yury Kruty from the IRS office in Philadelphia said that the agency is focused on uncovering hidden income involving NFTs. He added that it is important for people to trust that everyone is following the same rules when it comes to taxes.
Recently, Albert Saniger, a US tech founder, faced fraud charges after it was revealed that his company’s artificial intelligence (AI) was actually people working from a call center. How did the case unfold? Read the full story.
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